Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 1, 1 January 2003 — 'Living Nation' celebrates tenacity, remembers its roots 1893 - 1993 - 2003 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

'Living Nation' celebrates tenacity, remembers its roots 1893 - 1993 - 2003

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By Lynette Cruz and Mel Kalahiki Mueh has happened in the past 110 years and Hawaiians, native or not, resisting an imperfect (and mostly incorrect) history thrust upon us through the puhlie school system, have embraced opportunities to set things right. The Living Nation is a product of this willingness to embrace historic truth and to affirm that our ancestors left a legacy of strength and credibility, of resistance and solidarity, for us to elaim and act upon. We are recipients of new and timely information relating to the events leading up to the overthrow in 1893 and the subsequent 'annexation' of the independent nation of Hawai'i. To many these statements may seem inflammatory and anti-American. Indeed, they are. But they are also statements of truth, and natives as well as other descendants of the original subjects of the Hawaiian Kingdom, no matter what position they espouse today about the proper course to re-establish our Hawaiian nation, all share and must elaim the same history. Today we ean see ourselves as either victims of a brutal display of power exercised upon us through occupation by Amenean forces in our homeland, or we ean be empowered by the knowledge that our ancestors did not give it over easily, and thus we are called upon to do the same. The Living Nation calls to sovereignty proponents to piek up the challenge laid down by our ancestors, to honor our ali'i and our kupuna who resisted fiercely a wrong that was done to them and was, subsequently, carried into the future, impacting us, their descendants. Our "ohana who signed the petitions against

annexation and in support of the monarchy sent us a message, timely in its appeal — "I mua e nā pōki'i!" The protests worked. There was no Treaty of Annexation. America, in its desperation to own these strategically placed islands, somehow "annexed" us through a document called the Newlands Resolution, a public law internal to the US, with no power to extend its reach across the sea to our

independent nation. The full implications of this illegal action in our times have yet to be revealed. But knowledge of it and of ou^ ancestors' resistance against it, have fueled the movement in a way that nothing else could. From the 1993 'Onipa'a march and rally of resistance, to the 1998 celebration "We Are Who We Were: From Resistance to Affirmation," a story has emerged of growth in understanding and commitment to make right the wrongs of the past. Let us, as younger sisters and brothers in resistance, move forward to make right and elaim

what is ours. The Living Nation Campaign calls us to remember what eame before and why. The Living Nation celebrates the people as the nation, still here after a century of attempts by settlers to wash us away with false information and creative history. In a real sense, those who would keep us bound to an incorrect history resist the truth in the same way that we have always resisted the falsehoods. We ean sympathize. But our responsibility is to our Nation, to the people and lands and resources that must thrive in order for the Nation to be strong. To this end we strive to create opportunities "to provide an affīrmative national voice by promoting the prosperity and dignity of the Hawaiian kingdom." The Living Nation Campaign, with the kōkua of many community organizations, is sponsoring a series of activities the week of Jan. 13, 2003, including a week-long vigil that will focus attention on the 1893 overthrow and activities surrounding that event and the 1993 Onipa'a march and rally. A schedule of the week's events is listed below, as well as opportunities for participation. The events will be free and open to the public. For more information, eall Mel Kalahiki at 236-3636 or email at melkalahiki@aol.com, or Lynette Cruz at 738-0084 or email at palolo@hawaii.rr.com. Editor's note: The Living Nation effort is spearheaded by Mel Kalahiki, who was a key organizer of the 1993 Onipa 'a commemoration and 100-hour vigil. Lynette Cruz is the executive director of the non-profit 'Ike 'Aina Native Hawaiian Land Trust and the volunteer coordinatorfor Ahupua 'a Action Allianee. ■

Thousands of Hawailans, young to old, gathered to remember the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian government and to recommit themselves to the "the llvlng nation."